Guiding Questions:
  • Why is it important to have a clean community and parks?
  • How does a dirty park make us feel?
  • How can we keep our parks clean?

Guiding Activities:
  • Begin the lesson with showing students photographs of clean and dirty communities, focusing on local parks.
  • Ask students, “How would you feel if our playground was covered with litter like some of the other communities?” and continue discussion about littering with students.
  • Take students outside of school and complete a mini school clean up for students to see that even though it may look clean, there still may be litter if you look closely.
  • When finished, return to classroom and place students in small groups to continue discussing littering at parks focusing on:
    • How it makes community members feel about littering, what different types of littering they have experienced before, how littering can affect playing at local parks.
  • Students will complete a KWHL chart to brainstorm ways to keep our local parks clean.

Extension Activities:
  • Visit from the Parks and Recreation office
  • Interview friends and adults in their community, focusing on how they use the park, how littering can affect their experience, and how they believe the community should prevent littering.

Resources: